Delta Angel
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When Starscream is forced to take shelter in a barn, he does not factor in being discovered by two young human children, one of whom happens to be Annabelle Lennox.
1. Chapter 1

Delta Angel.

Summary: When Starscream is forced to take shelter in a barn, he does not factor in being discovered by two young human children, one of whom happens to be Annabelle Lennox.

Continuity: Movieverse

Rating: K+

Warnings: OOC Starscream

Disclaimer: No, Transformers isn't mine, and probably a good thing too, considering some of the ideas that crawl out of my fevered brain. It belongs to Hasbro and DreamWorks/Paramount.

Delta Angel.

Prologue.

December 2010, the Lennox farm.

Sarah Lennox smiled as the two young girls used felt tip pens to draw big eyes and curvy smiles on the silver circles that would represent the faces of the angels they were making from the inside tubes from rolls of toilet paper. Sarah turned back to cutting a few strips from the sheets of thin silver card and cut them in half, for the arms. She incised four cuts in one end, that end would serve as hands. Then she needed to make the wings. As she tended to fail miserably at trying to cut heart shapes, she settled instead for cutting triangles. An inverted triangle on the back of each angel would make a serviceable, if angular, pair of wings.

Will and Ironhide had gone out for a weekend together, to give Will some time for himself, without having to worry about either the army or his family. Sarah was a firm believer in the theory that everybody needed some 'me time.' She was quite happy here for the weekend, keeping her own Annabelle and Annabelle's friend Rachel, a girl from the farm next door, occupied. She could hardly believe that Annabelle would be five next month, it only seemed like the other month that she was giving birth to her. She wondered if Will would feel the time was now right for them to give Annabelle a brother or sister, now that he was not being posted abroad so often?

"Mommy, done." Annabelle said, passing over the face, followed swiftly by Rachel who did likewise.

"Good girl, those are lovely. Want to put some patterns on the arms now? We're nearly done." Sarah said. This was the last set of angels they would be making. Sarah had decided they could make five each – one for each corner of the Christmas table and one for the top of the tree in each household. These were the last two.

"Yes please mommy." Annabelle said. Sarah handed each girl a set of arms and while they dealt with that, Sarah set about gluing the faces and wings onto the toilet paper rolls that she had earlier spray-painted silver and the girls had decorated with silver and gold glitter.

"Drat." She muttered as the glue applicator gave an airy wheeze and she saw the glue had run out. She only just managed to attach the last pair of wings and head to the last silver tube, which was a relief, but how would she now attach all the arms to them? She had left the arms till last as the easiest part to do. Then she had an idea, and got Will's stapler.

Then she encountered another problem…the stapler would not punch through the cardboard of the tube. Biting back a curse – she would not swear in front of the children – she glared at the armless angels. Okay, if she couldn't attach the arms to the body…

A few quick clicks later, the angels all had their arms stapled to the edges of their wings. Okay, maybe the angels all looked like they had mega power shoulders now, but at least the arms were on, and the children didn't seem to mind. Just in time too, it seemed, as she heard a knock on the door and the cheery voice of Rachel's father, Thomas, calling for her. Taking each child by a wrist, she invited Thomas in with a shout as she started washing the girls' hands in the big sink.

"Will coming back tomorrow?" asked Thomas, a big bear of a farmer with a brown thatch of unruly hair on his head.

"Yes." Sarah replied, as she carefully dried each plump little pink hand with a soft thick towel. She bent down so Rachel could plant a wet kiss on her cheek.

"Off you go, Rachel, your mom's got lunch ready for you at home. Maybe we'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, giving Thomas a carrier bag with Rachel's five angels in.

"I'm sure you will." Said Thomas. "Those two are fast friends." He took Rachel outside, lifted his daughter to his shoulders, and set off back to his own farm with her.

Sarah watched him go, then put her hand out to Annabelle.

"I think you could do with some food as well, young lady. Shall we see what I put in the oven earlier?"

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

After her lunch, Rachel got bored and decided to go into the far barn. It was one of her favourite places to go, even now when it was cold. She hadn't been there for a few days, and quickly got her coast and gumboots on.

It took her about ten minutes to reach the barn, and the walk tired her. She slipped in the door and put on the lights her Dad had had installed, she got a bit of a shock. There was something very large lying in the barn. She stood and looked at it.

It seemed to be composed of metal, and there was something familiar about it. It seemed to be a figure. There were some oddly-jointed legs, and then the body appeared to widen up from the narrow waist to some very wide shoulders, to which were attached some very long arms. Atop the body was a domed head, and what might be eyes, although there was no sign of movement from it. Rachel tried to think of where she had seen something with that shape before, and then she remembered.

The angels they'd made that morning with Auntie Sarah! That was where she'd seen that shape before! She raised her hands to her face as she made what to her was a logical connection. They were being visited by an angel!

She remembered the stories Sarah and her mom had told her about the angels who sang to announce the birth of the Baby Jesus, and what she'd been told about her own guardian angel who was there to keep her safe and wouldn't let the monsters under the bed get her. Well, she knew the Baby Jesus had been born in a stable, but that was years ago and she didn't think he was going to be visiting here, so maybe this was her guardian angel. Even if it wasn't her guardian angel, angels were good, so it wouldn't hurt her if she curled up by it for a nap, would it? She was sleepy after her meal and the walk out to the barn.

She had slept on the hay from the fields before but it wasn't as comfortable as it looked, and she didn't want to risk disturbing anything that might be living in it. The angel's hand was within range, and she carefully climbed in under the jointed fingers to curl up in the great palm. It was a bit hard, but not as cold as she had worried about, in fact it was fairly warm, and she found it hollowed in such a way that she could actually lie comfortably in the palm.

She looked out at the angel from its hand as her eyelids slowly fluttered shut and her breathing slowed. She shifted just once, then settled into a deep and peaceful sleep, nestled in the big metal hand.

This was how and where Starscream found her when he came out of his recharge half an hour later.


	2. Chapter 2

Delta Angel.

Chapter One.

A/N: 1 vorn is equivalent to approximately 83 human years.

Starscream could only stare in disbelief at the tiny little organic that lay nestled in his palm, lifting it carefully to optic level to observe, his scientific curiosity overcoming his instinctive disgust.

Starscream had never seen such a tiny human before, or at least not that he recalled. It appeared to be recharging, and was pleasantly warm there in his hand. He could crush it or throw it from him of course, but before taking any sort of action, he decided to check up on the human's 'internet' for information on such tiny fleshlings.

A few seconds later, destroying said fleshling was the furthest thing from his mind. His research had quickly led him to conclude that this one was an 'infant' a 'child', or by Cybertronian reckonings, a 'sparkling' or 'youngling.'

As in any society, there were moral values and taboos in Cybertronian culture, moral values and taboos that had often been broken and ignored by various Decepticons (and some Autobots) from before the war began. Of course some taboos were greater than others and thus rarely broken. One of these was a taboo on killing the young, and nowhere did it specify that those young had to be Cybertronian. Of course, there were some Cybertronians who would break that taboo, but they were very rare – and Starscream was not among those few.

The small being stirred, turning over a little, and Starscream brought his other hand up quickly, fearful that the human sparkling would fall and damage herself, - for his research indicated this one was a femme - but she stopped moving, with a little puff of hot air from her mouth against the metal of his palm, before raising her opposable digit and inserting it into her mouth. Starscream carefully drew his hand close to his chest, bringing the little one closer to the warmth of his Spark. The small one's surface area to volume ratio would mean she might quickly chill, and Starscream did not want that.

The movement roused the child, who knuckled her eyes and then sat up, blinking sleepily and then looking about with a wide-eyed curiosity that again reminded Starscream of some of the younglings of his own kind.

"Greetings, human youngling." He said to her, then added a few clicks, not sure exactly how to speak to young humans. Did they understand the language of their adult units or did they have a sparkling-language of their own?

She removed the digit from her mouth before speaking as she looked up at his face.

"'Llo, angel." she said. "'I'm Rachel." Starscream nodded, filing the youngling's designation away for future reference.

"Greetings, Rachel. I am designated Starscream." He raised a hand and tapped his chest with a finger. "Starscream." He repeated slowly.

"Starsky - Starscra – Star – Star-angel." She struggled with his name and gave up at the end. Starscream nodded again.

"Star-angel then. It will suffice." He said, looking up the word 'angel' on the Internet for she had now used the word twice in reference to him. He noted that the word "suffice" went over her head, but noticed that she took his own nod and use of the name as acceptance of the designation.

There was a wealth of information on angels on the Internet, some of it conflicting, but Starscream's processor power enabled him to sort through it all and work out what sort of 'angel' she saw him as, and he found it both ironic and flattering. He smiled at her, as best as he could with his face, curling his digits up around her as she had stood and he did not want her falling. He noted her lack of fear in the face of the sharp-tipped claws and razor-edged knuckle-blades and found himself wondering if her fearlessness was down to trust, ignorance or a combination of both.

Rachel smiled back. "Star-angel." She said again. "Why you here?"

Noting her truncated speech, he realised she did speak the language of the adult forms, but a reduced, simpler version of it. He would have to attempt to do likewise.

"I need a place to shelter for a bit." He said. "What is this place?" He hoped his language was understandable: he could not think of a simpler way to explain. Luckily, it seemed she understood more words than she spoke, and was possibly a fast learner.

"This Daddy's barn." She said. "I tell Daddy you here, he come see you." she said.

"No!" he said in alarm. He didn't mind the youngling knowing, for she seemed to believe he was a celestial entity, something Starscream did not want to disabuse her of. If adults found out, however, it would be dangerous for him, especially being so close to the Lennox lands.

"No." he repeated more gently. "Your parents – that is, Mommy and Daddy - cannot be allowed to see me, not yet, they must not even know I am here. My purpose here is a secret, one I cannot tell even you." He said.

"Why?" she asked. Starscream skimmed angel stories, fastened on an explanation. It was a cop-out and it made him cringe, but he used it anyway.

"God said I mustn't say." He said, offlining his optics briefly at the very idea that he was a messenger from Primus.

"But why?" she asked.

"I don't know. He didn't say why. Who am I to ask God why?" he said, really hoping she wouldn't persist.

Thankfully, she seemed to accept it.

"I'm bored." She said. "Can we play?"

"What do you want to play?" he asked.

"Hm. Dunno. We play angel games?" she asked hopefully.

It only took a few seconds for him to analyse all the sparkling-games he knew of and eliminate those not suitable or beyond the ability of a squishy youngling, and was glad to find there were a few word and counting games he could play with her. He smiled at her again.

"Why not?" he said.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

He managed to keep the sparkling human entertained by using counting games, naming games, and holographic projections until she heard her father calling her name. He bent down to put her back on the floor, and was startled when she stretched her arms along the bottom of one side of his helm and pressed her moist lips against his metal cheek, removing them with a loud smacking sound. It wasn't, he was relieved to note, as wet a kiss as it sounded.

"Remember, don't tell your Mommy and Daddy about me. It's a secret." He cautioned her as she waved and headed for the door.

"I won't. Promise. Bye Star-angel. See you tomorrow!" she called.

Of course, Rachel was just _bursting_ to tell somebody about the angel in her father's barn, but she had promised the star-angel she wouldn't tell her Daddy or her Mommy, but he hadn't said anything about her friends.

"Phone Annabelle?" she asked her mom.

"Okay, but make it quick, your food is almost cooked." Her mom said.

Rachel went to the upstairs extension and hit the speed-dial to Annabelle's her mom had programmed in it for her. Sarah answered the phone, and called Annabelle.

"'Lo, Rachel?" Annabelle asked.

"Come round tomorrow. Wanna show you something." She said. "I gotta real live angel. It's in my barn. But don't tell your mommy or Daddy. It's a _secret_." She stage-whispered the last word.

"A real angel?" Annabelle asked excitedly, her eyes going round. She dropped her voice. "I won't tell, let me see! Please?"

"Call for me tomorrow and I show you." Rachel promised. She heard her mom calling her name.

"See you tomorrow. Bye!" she said, and put the phone down.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Starscream knew that he really ought to go now the sparkling had found him. He was only there because when he had tried to land at an air base, they had begun to shoot at him. He had aborted his landing, changed his decals, and tried at another base with the exact same result, and a brief scan of the area revealed Cybertronian scan technology. It seemed the Autobots had given their squishy allies the technology to differentiate between their own drones and a disguised Cybertronian. Needing somewhere to hide, recharge, lie low, and plan, this barn had seemed the ideal place.

The problem was, where else could he go? This location was convenient to him because not only did it have buildings big enough to conceal himself in, but he was close enough to the Lennox farm to possibly pick up some information, but not so close that he risked being found by the weapons specialist, Ironhide. The big 'bot seemed to have appointed himself as guardian to the Lennox-squishy and the fleshling femme Starscream had twice glimpsed and whom he assumed was his mate. Starscream was sure that if he were detected that the heavily-armed Autobot would categorise him as a threat, and Starscream didn't have any illusions about what his chances would be if he got on the business end of the Autobot's massive arsenal.

Finding another location with the same concealment and spying opportunities would not be easy, and if he was telling the truth, Starscream didn't really _want_ to go. The human youngling was fascinating in her behaviour and really quite charming. She didn't have the knowledge or learned fear of the unknown that the older humans had, and as such accepted Starscream at face value. That was something Starscream had not experienced in vorns, and he found he liked it.

Yes, he sighed, he really should leave, be gone by the time the squishy youngling returned here, but Starscream found that what he _should_ do and what he _wanted_ to do no longer tallied. He stretched on the floor of the barn and huffed air through his vents. He would move on in a few days, once he got a chance to slip out and locate a new hiding place. The immature human had promised to keep his presence a secret, and he trusted her when she had promised not to tell her parental organisms that he was there.

He would like to keep in contact with the small human a little longer - for the purpose of scientific curiosity only, of course, he told himself.

Yes, he would have to move on, but he didn't need to leave _just_ yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Delta Angel.

Chapter Two.

Nellis Air Base.

"With all due respect, Sir, I don't think that the Autobots gave you that technology so you could frighten off Starscream the next time he put in an appearance." Will Lennox said, trying to hold back his growing anger at the bull-headed stupidity of many of the people above him in the chain of command, including the General he was currently addressing.

"Captain Lennox, may I remind you that the American military will use any technology it obtains to defend the United States in whatever way it deems necessary. If need be, we will use such technology available to us to eliminate threats to National Security." This was the General's response.

The General was a tall, grey-haired man, who still filled out his uniform in the right places and had kept himself physically fit. The name tag above his breast pocket read MACCLESFIELD.

"Sir, you have never fought against Decepticons, never seen them in action. Starscream was too quick for you when you attacked him, and now we have no idea where he is. With respect, Sir could you tell me how driving him underground is supposed to reduce his threat to the country?" Lennox asked, schooling his features into a solemn and respectful neutral expression. His annoyance was kept in check beneath the surface, but he could not allow it to show. He had heard that the way forward with this particular General was by logical explanation.

As the General drew himself up ready to answer, he was startled by a voice saying "May I submit my opinion?" Lennox smiled as the General, obviously thrown by the interruption, stared at the pickup the deep voice has seemed to come from. Lennox moved aside.

"General, may I suggest you take a few steps back?" he asked.

When the General scowled and stubbornly stood his ground, a noise sounding suspiciously like a sigh came from the vehicle, which abruptly started its engine and reversed back by ten feet.

"What the…?" said the usually unflappable General. As the now familiar (to Lennox) transformation noise sounded, the General could only stand and stare, his mouth dropping open, as Ironhide unfolded from black pickup to twenty or so feet of imposing heavily-armed and armoured robot.

Lennox's smile widened and split into an amused grin.

"I take it this is the first time you've been close to or met a Cybertronian, General?" he asked cheerfully. "No amount of briefings can prepare you for the reality. General, say hello to Autobot Weapons Specialist Ironhide, one of our allies. Ironhide, this gentleman is General Macclesfield."

"General." Ironhide rumbled in his bass voice, giving the officer a passable salute, not an easy motion for the big mech with his bulky arm cannons.

Lennox found himself admiring the General's poise: he realised his mouth was hanging open, closed it with a click, snapped to attention and returned the salute, even though Ironhide didn't hold any rank in the US Military. Will supposed the General's salute was either a respectful gesture or an instinctive response to being dwarfed by a twenty-foot 'bot.

He wondered what the General would think if he ever saw the tough-looking mech around his daughter, Annabelle. The big 'bot was fond of Lennox's sole offspring, fiercely protective and infinitely gentle. Will had more than once caught Ironhide lying on his back, Annabelle on his chest laughing and rubbing his hide with both hands, and Ironhide's response consisting of slight shifts of his limbs and a clicking sound that he later found out from one of the other Autobots was more normally heard coming from a "sparkling", the Cybertronian equivalent of a baby or infant. He suspected that not many of his own kind had seen him like that before.

"Um, Mr Ironhide, do you have the requisite security clearance to be here?" the General asked, his stiff, clipped voice breaking into Lennox's thoughts.

The Autobot inclined his great head once, then used a finger to open a compartment in his armour. He reached in and withdrew a pass dangling from a lanyard, looking ridiculously small in Ironhide's large metal fingers. He delicately lowered the pass towards the General, who held his hands up to receive it. Once Ironhide released the lanyard, Macclesfield brought it down to where he could see it. He ran a critical eye over it, did a double take, and his composure broke as he goggled at the pass.

"Is everything in order, General?" Lennox asked mischievously, although he knew what the other officer had seen.

"Mr Ironhide, your security clearance is greater than my own!" Macclesfield exclaimed. "This will get you into every military installation we own with the exception of Area 51 and similar test ranges and experimental facilities." He looked back at the pass as if still unable to believe his eyes. "It's signed by the Secretary of Defence himself!" he gasped.

Ironhide took the pass back, carefully pinching it between thumb and forefinger of his surprisingly delicate-looking hands, and put it back into the armour compartment he had taken it from, which then shut with a solid-sounding click.

"General, when you fired on Starscream, was he actively attacking your base?" he asked.

"No, he was just coming in to land, but after what happened in Qatar, we decided to attack him before he started attacking us." Macclesfield told Ironhide.

"We had hoped that you would monitor his movements. It is our belief that he would not have sought to launch any attack until he received reinforcements, enabling us to keep an optic on him and just know where he is." Ironhide explained patiently. "However, Starscream has now fled, we do not know where he is hiding, he is possibly injured, likely to be low on fuel, which means he may be more desperate, more likely to take risks, and more dangerous. As we do not know where he is, we cannot watch for a change in his routine which could indicate that his reinforcements have arrived or that he is, indeed planning an attack. I suggest you keep as many personnel as possible away from the aircraft fuelling points at all your air bases – as that will likely be his first priority – do not fire upon him, and call us if you detect him."

"You expect us to stand back and let him just take the fuel?" Macclesfield asked.

"If you do not, it is likely he will attempt to kill your soldiers and then take the fuel anyway." Ironhide said. "It seems a sensible precaution. If we see him, we may be able to track him to his latest hiding place, and watch what he does there."

"I see your point, Mr Ironhide." General Macclesfield said reluctantly. "Thank you for your input."

Lennox nodded, saluted while Ironhide folded back down into his alt- mode without another word, and Lennox got in ready to head home. It had been a long weekend, and he was looking forwards to seeing Sarah and Annabelle, his ladies, again.

"Come on, Ironhide." He said, patting the steering column. "Let's go home."

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Annabelle woke early, as she usually did, and went to her Mom and Dad's bedroom. Opening the door, she walked in, lifted the quilt, and burrowed under, worming her way over to where her mother was lying half-awake beneath the covers. She wrapped an arm over her mother's waist and nuzzled against her mom's warm, nightdress-clad body. Sarah stirred with a sigh, turning and draping her arm over her daughter, snuggling her close.

After about ten minutes, Sarah slid out from under the covers to prepare some breakfast for her daughter, and she dressed as Annabelle ate. Then she helped Annabelle dress, and then began to circulate around the house, picking up Annabelle's dirty laundry so she could do a wash.

Annabelle finished her breakfast and then remembered Rachel's phone call of the night before. Today, Rachel would show Annabelle her angel, her real angel!

"'M going out Mommy, to see Rachel." She said, as her mom bent by the washing machine. Sarah nodded: Rachel's house was visible from hers and she knew that Annabelle would be okay going there on her own. Annabelle went out and put her coat on, doing up the poppers which she found easier to handle than buttons or zips. She stamped her feet into her gumboots – no laces, she loved her boots – and moved over to give her mom a moist kiss.

Annabelle stopped to pick up one of the figures they had made earlier.

"Rachel gotta real angel. She gonna show me angel at hers." She said.

"Okay." Sarah said, slightly distracted and only half listening. "Be a good girl." She turned back to doing the washing as Annabelle left.

Some time later, while she was doing the dishes, she heard a familiar engine – Will and Ironhide were back from their weekend away together.

"Hi honey." she said, as she heard him come in.

"Hi." He said, stooping slightly to kiss her on the neck.

"I've had a communication from the Army. Starscream was fired at the last time he tried to land at one of our bases: he hasn't been seen for a bit, he must be holed up somewhere isolated. We're hoping to find out where, we need to watch that one. What is it with our generals? Their philosophy too often seems to be 'if it moves and it ain't ours, blow it up' without thinking things through first." Will said. "We now have a Decepticon on the loose, possibly hurt, very likely angry, and whereabouts not known." Sarah nodded: she knew the basics about the Autobots and Decepticons, but left most of the dealings with them to her husband. Will kissed her again and went upstairs to change. Sarah put the kettle on and made herself a coffee.

"Why are you making models of Starscream?" came a bass voice from the window five minutes later. Ironhide, of course, was the one Autobot she knew well and saw often. She stood and walked over to the window, puzzled, then turned to follow Ironhide's gaze with her own. He was looking at the paper angels stood on the table.

"They're not models of Starscream!" she said, stifling a giggle. "Why would I want to make such a thing?" She picked up her coffee mug and took a sip of the strong black contents.

"That's what they look like." Ironhide said. "If they're not Starscream figurines, then what are they?"

"They're not Starscream, they're paper angels. Figurines of ange…"

Her voice tailed off as she recalled Annabelle's comment of an hour or so ago.

"Rachel gotta real angel. She gonna show me angel at hers."

In isolation, Rachel's comment, Starscream's vanishing act, and Ironhide's comparison of the angels to Starscream were of little concern, but taken together they all added up to a horrible possibility to Sarah.

"Angel…Starscream…" she whispered to herself, drawing a startled, perplexed look from Ironhide that she didn't even notice. She blanched white and the coffee cup slid from her suddenly nerveless fingers, hitting the granite-paved floor and shattering noisily in the sudden silence. The sound broke Sarah out of her numb inactivity.

"_Annabelle!"_ she screamed and ran out of the back door.

Ironhide watched her stumbling, panicked run for half a second before he started after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Delta Angel.

Chapter Three.

Annabelle got to Rachel's home quickly, running all the way. She reached up and was just big enough to slip her fingers under the bottom edge of the iron door knocker and flick it up. The knock reverberated through the house and Rachel's mother opened the door.

"Ah, hello, Rachel, come in and have a glass of milk, then I'll help Rachel get ready. She's excited about something today, keeps looking out of the window for you." She laughed. "Everything's new and exciting for you, I suppose, us adults are jaded and cynical."

Annabelle sat down and Rachel plumped herself down next to her.

"C',mon let's drink and go." Annabelle nodded, and both the girls drank their milk quickly and Rachel went to get her outside clothes on. Five minutes later, Rachel had taken Annabelle's hand.

"Playing in the big barn, Mommy!" she called, than to Annabelle "C'mon!"

The two four-year olds ran hand-in-hand to the big barn, then they opened the door just wide enough for them to slip in.

"There it is!" whispered Rachel, pointing to Starscream's shadowy form. Then she raised her voice.

"Star-angel! This is my friend, Annabelle!

Starscream looked up at her call. Drat! He should have told Rachel not to tell anybody, but it was too late, both younglings were stood there now, but the new one was as cute as the first, and he could now tell them both to tell no-one else.

"Hi Rachel, Annabelle." He told them, grateful that he had looked up simpler versions and contractions of English words. He put his hands on the ground. "Let me see you closer." He said, wondering if the second girl would be as fearless as the first. However, said second girl turned to the first with a look of annoyance on her face.

"You said you'd show me a angel. That not a angel, Rachel!" she said.

Rachel reached for the figure in Annabelle's hand and held it up.

"Is _too_ a angel. Look!" she said. Starscream peered at the construct the girl held up as he scanned it. It seemed to be made of pulped organic non-animal matter, and Starscream had to admit there was a definite likeness between it and himself, if only superficially. Younglings on Cybertron, mainly before the war had started, had made small metal models of their Creators and of other Cybertronians they admired, and this seemed to be a similar idea.

Rachel looked from the figure to Starscream and back again. "See? Is _so_ a angel!" she stated. Annabelle raised her hands to her mouth and giggled.

"Is _not_!" she said, but the angry look had left her face to be replaced by one of mirth. "He like Hidey. He not a _angel_, he a _Autobot_!"

Several emotions flickered through Starscream one after the other. A mixture of outrage and amusement at being called an Autobot. Alarm at her statement because that meant this one knew of his kind, and if she was in contact with Ironhide –for who else could "Hidey" be – she could be dangerous to know. Worry that she might know of both factions and realise her error.

He was pulled from his thoughts at the feel of feet on his hands, which were still resting palms-up flat on the floor. He looked down to see it was the Annabelle-sparkling who had climbed on his hands, with no apparent fear. He supposed that if she knew Ironhide, she might indeed be used to this. She smiled up at him and Rachel ran over to join her. This suggested that the Annabelle-fleshy did not know of the different factions, or at least not that he was of a different faction to Ironhide.

Relaxing a bit, he curled his fingers and thumbs up slightly, to guard against dropping them, and each youngling grabbed one upcurved claw for balance as he lifted them up by his chest, which was close enough to his optics that he could see detail better, and close enough to his Spark for it to warm the younglings a bit.

Rachel held up the paper construct.

"For you, Star-angel." She said.

"Thank you!" he said feeling quite flattered.

"Why you say you angel when you not?" she asked him.

Well, _that_ was easy enough, he had an answer to that one.

"Not many people know about the Autobots, and I didn't know your friend did. Our being here is a _secret_." He said. Annabelle nodded in agreement.

"He right. But I can tell Hidey one of his friends is here!" she said excitedly, shifting her weight to stand on the same hand Rachel was on.

"_No!"_ said Starscream with an alarmed squeak. "I- I want to surprise him, don't tell him yet!" He managed to calm his voice so the panic at being found by the big weapons specialist didn't show. Thankfully, she accepted his explanation.

"Oh-_kay_." She said, disappointment apparent in her voice.

A warm hand touching the upper surface of his canopy startled him: he looked down in time to see Rachel finish the sweep of her stroke over the smooth curved surface, then knock lightly on it with her knuckles.

"What this, Star-angel?" she asked.

"That's my canopy. It covers a cavity with buttons and controls in it." He told her.

"Is like Hidey." Annabelle commented. "He becomes a car. And you…you become…a airplane?"

He nodded. "Yes, an aeroplane." He said. "A very nice-looking and very _fast_ aeroplane."

"Hidey drives us around sometimes." This was Annabelle again, who had become very chatty. "You fly us sometimes? _Please_?" she asked.

"Maybe." He said, thinking he could not make that promise. If he had to move fast for any reason, he would not even be able to say goodbye, and his leaving the barn meant he might be spotted, so he would only be moving when he needed to, or when weather conditions helped to conceal him. Thus it was unlikely he could fly them anywhere before he had to go.

Another small hand touched the canopy, tentatively at first, then it returned and touched firmer and rested there when he did not flinch or admonish. This time the touch was from Rachel, who ran her fingers over the smooth surface curiously. He chuckled: the touch tickled. Rachel jerked her hand back.

"No, it's okay, I don't mind but press a bit firmer so it doesn't tickle." He said. She did, and Starscream held still to allow her questing fingers to explore the shiny material.

"Hidey's eyes is blue. Why yours red?" Annabelle asked.

"I like red." He said. "Why are yours blue?" he countered.

"Dunno. They just are." She said. "Do you know stories like Hidey does?" she asked.

"Er – yes, I know a few." He said, surprised by the sudden change of topic.

"You know the Starsword story?" she asked.

"I do." He said. It was a favourite of many Cybertronian younglings, and had been Starscream's favourite tale. It was also one that was thought might be based on fact.

"Tell us it, tell us please?" she asked.

"Okay." Starscream agreed. "Sit down then." Both children sat, one in each hand.

"Back at the beginning of the Golden Age of Cybertron, there was once a young mech who had been cheated out of his land by an associate of his creators. He was dwelling on how unlucky he was when he noticed something wedged between two rocks. It was an ancient and powerful-looking sword, and as he took the handle, the sword spoke to him in his head. "I am the Star Sword." it said. "Let me help you get the justice you crave…"

The two children listened raptly as Starscream related the tale.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Will Lennox had just taken off his uniform shirt when Sarah's cry rang through the house. Looking out of the window, he saw his wife take off out of the house towards the neighbouring farm, and saw Ironhide follow.

Cursing, he grabbed his uniform shirt and ran down after them, struggling into it on the way. He managed to catch Ironhide up after calling his name a few times, then grabbed Sarah and swung her around to face him.

"SARAH!" he yelled, shaking her gently but firmly to get her attention. "What is it?"

Sarah tried to explain, but she was so panicked that all Will could make out was something about Annabelle, angels, and Starscream. None of it made any sense but Will knew any sentence with both Annabelle's and Starscream's name in it couldn't be good. He shook Sarah again.

"Where is she? Or who will know?" Sarah pointed towards the farmhouse. Will turned to Ironhide.

"Ironhide, you keep out of sight, the less the family here see, the better. Sarah and I will see if we can find out where Annabelle is."

As Ironhide crouched down by some outbuildings, Will and Sarah set back off at a run towards the farmhouse.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

"...As the young mech argued with his brother, he struck at him with the Star Sword, and the brother, like the associate, was killed instantly. The young mech was seized with remorse at his brother's death, and anger at the sword.

"You promised me justice, and justice I got by killing the associate who had stolen my land." he said. "But now you have caused me to strike down my own brother. I will not allow somebody else to be taken in by your words!" he said. He took a rock and broke the sword into three pieces and hurled them into space, where legend says they are still to this day. It is said that whoever joins the three pieces again will have the sword to use, but beware, it may be the sword that uses you instead."

Annabelle clapped as Starscream finished relating the tale. Starscream raised the younglings up to his optic level and Annabelle leaned forward and kissed him just under his right optic. Rachel quickly followed suit under the left.

"Thank you, Star-angel!" Annabelle squealed, echoed by Rachel a heartbeat later.

"You are welcome, Annabelle, Rachel." he said. As he lowered the children again, Rachel reached out to touch his canopy again, she seemed fascinated by it. She peered in.

"There's a seat in there! Can we go inside and try it? Please?" she asked. Starscream gave another chuckle at the curiosity of the little one.

He carefully tipped Annabelle onto the hand holding Rachel, and reached down to unlatch and pop open the canopy. Carefully lowering the younglings in his other hand, he brought them into a position where they could crawl in. He lowered the canopy and reclined, allowing them a more comfortable angle and more space to clamber about in.

They both tried out the seat, bouncing on it, and he heard them giggle as they found buttons and dials. He activated some of the displays for them, making lights flash on and off and lighting up gauges and controls. After a time they got bored with that, and this time made _him_ chortle by pulling funny faces at him through the translucent canopy material.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

"Okay, Sarah, they're in the far barn according to Thomas." said Will. He had decided he had best enquire about the whereabouts of Annabelle, as Sarah's panic might rub off on the parents of Annabelle's friend, Rachel. That could complicate the situation above what Will felt he could control. He waved Ironhide over, and they headed for the barn Thomas had pointed out, one human either side of the big mech.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

After a short time of pulling faces, they both tired of the activity, and Annabelle pushed the canopy open. Rachel seemed content to stay in the cockpit, hanging the construct on his joystick and curling up into a warm little ball in his seat. He wondered if she would go to sleep there. Annabelle exited the compartment and boldly started climbing up Starscream's body towards his face.

Starscream hurriedly put a hand beneath her - he didn't mind her clambering up him, and she seemed to have no trouble finding toe and finger holds, his body was not at a particularly steep angle, but he wasn't willing to risk her falling on to the hard ground below. He was surprised at her blind faith and complete confidence, it surely wasn't every day a human youngling got to climb up a larger non-terrestrial life form, but then he recalled that this one knew Ironhide, which might well mean that indeed she _did_.

Starscream was pulled from his thoughts as the interior of the barn was briefly lighter as the door was pulled open. As Starscream jerked his head up, the light was blocked by the menacing form of Ironhide, who was flanked by the two Lennox squishies.

"Put the children down, Starscream!" growled Ironhide, bringing both of his cannons to bear on the Seeker.

If Starscream had been human, he would have gone white. As it was, the expression on Ironhide's face was enough to make his Spark flicker in fear.

Ironhide's faceplates bore an expression of barely-contained fury.


	5. Chapter 5

Delta Angel.

Chapter Four.

A/N: **Bold type** indicates databurst communication.

Annabelle spoke up from her precarious position on Starscream's chest.

"Hidey! You gotta nice friend! Why I never met him before? I met your other friends."

"He is no friend of mine!" the Autobot growled, as Starscream carefully unlatched his canopy and gently reached inside to pick up Rachel.

For the first time, Annabelle seemed to notice the big cannons pointed menacingly at Starscream.

"But…but…he _said_ he was your friend. He_ nice_!" she said. Her eyes widened as she realised that by pointing at Starscream, the cannons were also trained on her. "You…you not going to shoot _me_ are you, Hidey?" She asked, her eyes brightening with tears.

"Of course not!" he said gruffly. "Come down from there and bring your friend. Sarah will take you back to the house."

"Come on, you two, you heard him. Time to go back to your parents." Starscream said weakly as he reached up a hand to Annabelle. Of course, he could virtually assure his safety if he kept both of the sparklings with him, threatened to harm them unless he was allowed to leave safely. However, he was frightened that if he did, Ironhide might call his bluff, and he didn't even want to _scare_ the younglings by making the threat, and certainly could _never_ intentionally hurt them.

Starscream finally managed to get hold of Rachel, who had indeed started to doze off in the seat of his cockpit. She looked up sleepily as Starscream slipped her out from under the canopy. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the shape of Ironhide, and Rachel had never seen him in robot form before, so her reaction was quite understandable.

She sat bolt upright and opened her mouth in an ear-splitting scream of terror. Then she darted back towards Starscream's canopy, pushing it back open and wriggling back under it, dropping back into the cockpit, and thankfully falling onto the seat rather than hitting the floor.

By this time, Annabelle had tightened her grip on Starscream. Although she was only four, she had already worked out what was likely to happen.

"Don't wanna!" she said. "You gonna hurt Star-angel, and he _nice_, he my _friend_! Why hurt him, Hidey, _why_? Please don't, _please_!" Annabelle begged. The tears in her eyes were now running down her face in rivulets, then look on her face composed of fear, confusion and unhappiness.

"Annabelle, listen to me." Said Will. "The one you are calling Star-angel is bad, he's _not_ nice and he is_ not_ your friend. Come down here and let Ironhide deal with him before you get hurt." He said firmly.

"Shan't!" she said defiantly, clinging harder as Starscream curled his fingers around her, trying to pick her off him. "Is _too_ my friend, he told us the Star-Sword story when I asked. He not hurt us, he been kind and funny and nice!" she said.

As Starscream began tugging at Annabelle, Sarah took two steps forward, her face white.

"Please be careful, human children are fragile, don't squeeze her!" she said. Starscream looked down at her.

"I promise I won't squeeze, or even pull hard. I am well aware that she will be more delicate than you, it is true of the sparklings of our own kind." He said. He looked up at Ironhide.

"Do you think that I would intentionally harm a youngling, even a human one? I would sooner rip out my own Spark with my bare hand than harm these little ones. Why do you Autobots automatically assume that the moment we subscribed to the Decepticon cause that our morals shrivel up into nothing?"

As he fell silent and reached under his canopy again, they could hear Rachel's muffled whimpers. As he pulled her out again and brought her towards his chest, she lunged for him, grabbing hold next to Annabelle and looking fearfully back over her shoulder at the menacing form of Ironhide. "Save me, Star-angel, save me from the mean black monster! She sobbed, burying her face in Starscream's chest.

Ironhide drew back as if physically struck.

"Monster? I'm no monster!" he said in shock.

"You're the one with guns pointed at her." Starscream reminded him. "Your Annabelle may know you, but this other one doesn't, I think. She is scared of you." he said. "Maybe if you put away your cannons, it might help?"

Annabelle addressed Rachel, stubbornly hanging on as Starscream once again unsuccessfully tried to pull off the clinging human.

"Hidey's not a monster, he's nice too – well he is _usually_, now he's just being mean."

"Annabelle!" Will and Ironhide spoke simultaneously, Will in a tone of rebuke, Ironhide in one of shock.

"He's _nice_, he _hasn't_ hurt me, he _wouldn't_!" she explained. She looked at Ironhide. "And you _are_ scaring Rachel."

Grumbling, Ironhide offlined his cannons and folded them down into his arms. He had to admit that Annabelle and Starscream had a point. His desire not to fall out of favour with Annabelle warred with his instinct to protect her, and he had to admit that if Starscream had wanted to harm the girls he had had ample opportunity. His processor clusters hurt, and he decided he needed another mech's opinions on this. He opened his comm. channel and contacted Optimus.

**Optimus, we got a problem and I need your advice. The Lennox's sparkling and her friend have befriended Starscream and now they won't let me chase him off.** He databurst the details as he knew them to Optimus, including a recording of the sequence of events so far. For a moment there was silence, and then Optimus databurst him back.

**He is now the Decepticon leader. Ask for a gesture of his sincerity and ask for a ceasefire. I am sure you can work out terms for the ceasefire should he accept, but tell him that should he accept I will inform the US Military of the ceasefire. I cannot, of course promise that they too will honour it, I can only ask, although I shall go via the Secretary Of Defence rather than the generals you and Will told me about earlier today.**

Ironhide nodded. Turning back to Starscream, Ironhide addressed him.

"Starscream, I have been authorised to inform you that should you call a ceasefire, the Autobots will honour it upon confirmation of acceptance of any terms we would work out. If you mean what you have said earlier, an acceptance in principle of a ceasefire would be a first step as a gesture of sincerity. Optimus has promised that he will inform the military of this country of the ceasefire if you accept, though he has no control over their response. If you refuse, you have an hour to move your sorry aft away from my human friends, and _their_ friends."

Starscream scowled.

"You could do with a download of basic diplomacy programming, Autobot, but I will accept in principle to call a ceasefire." He straightened, cupping his hand beneath both children in case they slipped, but they both had firm holds, and quickly scrambled up to one of his broad shoulders, where they sat between a tail fin and a flap, holding on to each other. Rachel still looked a bit nervous of Ironhide, but both children seemed to sense that the tension of the situation was decreasing, and both had stopped crying.

"What about terms?" asked Ironhide. "I have to insist that those covered by the ceasefire include the two younglings and their immediate families."

"Of course, that was also my thought on the matter." Starscream said. "I would like, for my side of things, to be allowed to stay in this building and for the younglings to be allowed to visit me at any time."

"_Not_ after Annabelle's bedtime." Sarah said firmly.

"And not when it's dark, morning or afternoon. I don't want her or her friend to get lost and end up freezing to death. With those restrictions, I agree to your terms, or I just_ know_ Annabelle will sneak out to see you anyway, the wilful little madam." Will said fondly.

"Agreed." stated Starscream. Will nodded.

"However, it may be better for you to stay in one of the barns on my land, it would be easier than having to explain the whole thing to Rachel's father. There is one that is not in use by the house, I'll sweep it out tomorrow morning and you can move in tomorrow afternoon." Will said. "I apologise for being paranoid, but how do we know you'll keep your word and not turn on us?"

Starscream huffed air through his vents. He looked towards Ironhide.

"Autobot, you will serve as a witness to my pledge." He turned to Lennox.

"I swear by the God Primus, and the Dark God they call the Unmaker, and by the Essence of the AllSpark, that for the duration of the ceasefire the families of these younglings will not be intentionally harmed, and the younglings will not be intentionally harmed even once the ceasefire ends. May the fuel in my tubes be drained from my body and the Matrix forever be closed to me if I break this pledge which has been heard and witnessed by Autobot Ironhide."

Ironhide was staring at the Seeker as he finished speaking.

"Well, can we trust him?" asked Lennox.

"Yes, you can." Ironhide stated firmly. "I don't know a Cybertronian alive who would take that pledge and then go against it." Ironhide said. "Very well, I will tell Optimus Prime that the ceasefire has been brokered. Can I ask that you will take no offensive action against humans except in self-defence for the duration of the ceasefire, and that all Autobots and Decepticons will be covered by it?"

"Certainly." Starscream said. "I have an additional request, although it does not have to be part of the ceasefire conditions. The younglings asked if I could take them up for a flight, which now the ceasefire will go ahead I can now do safely, but I am low on fuel, so low that I cannot fly them anywhere without running dry. Could I have some fuel made available, so I can take them up?"

This the children seemed to understand, for they started squealing and bouncing up and down with excitement to such an extent that Starscream raised his hands to his shoulder in concern that they might accidentally jump too far or overbalance and fall off.

"Please Daddy, Hidey, _please!"_ squealed Annabelle.

"_Please!_ Wanna fly in Star-angel!" Rachel cried excitedly.

"Now that's using emotional blackmail." Will said, but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "If the Autobots can't authorise it – though I think they probably can wangle something –I'll have a word with Epps and see if he can pull some strings."

"I will convey your request to Optimus Prime, along with your ceasefire acceptance and terms." Stated Ironhide. He did so, and reported back.

"Optimus Prime has accepted the terms and says he can arrange for fuel to be made available for you." He said.

"Okay then." Said Will. "In that case, Sarah and I should go home to finish off what this interrupted." He levelled a finger at Annabelle. "I want you home before dark and to get an early night, young lady, I want you to help clear the big barn tomorrow morning for your friend, and yes, Rachel can come too."

Rachel said "Yes! I come and help!" and Annabelle squealed and said "Of course, Daddy!" Ironhide went out and changed back to his pickup form to drive the adult Lennoxes back home. As they left, they heard Starscream say "Now, let me tell you two another story, the story of the First Twelve…"


	6. Chapter 6

Delta Angel.

Epilogue.

A/N: Thanks to KDZeal, LokiWaterDraca and Xobit for helping me avoid a major scientific gaffe while discussing an idea.

Thanks to Anne Clothier for providing the child-speak for Starscream's canopy.

Christmas Morning.

Starscream unshuttered his optics at a noise from inside the barn, and pushed the tarpaulin Will had found for him off his cockpit and chest area. Not that he needed it, of course, his systems could keep themselves warm, but using it for insulation _did _save on fuel, something Starscream was still careful about despite the fact the fuel promised had arrived the evening before.

He looked down to see not just the two human younglings but the Annabelle-sparkling's creators had come into the barn. Starscream was surprised - the Lennox adults had stayed away from him after clearing the barn except to call the younglings in as needed on various days. A shadow fell over the opening of the barn and Ironhide peered in.

"If I come in, it'll be a bit crowded." He said, creaking the door open and sitting down outside. "I'll just watch from here."

Surprised, Starscream sat up and said "Hello?"

Starscream had been researching on the internet after the younglings spoke of Christmas with excitement, and had not really expected to see the sparklings that day, as his research indicated that Christmas was considered to be a day for the family to come together. As he was not a family member, he had thought to avail himself of the fuel and pass the time by getting some fun-flying done. Not that he minded the change of plan, he'd still get some flying done later that day he was sure.

The two youngling femmes ran over to him, both holding in their hands something brightly-coloured and lumpy.

"Merry Christmas Star-angel!" they both said, climbing onto his hands as they were used to doing now. He straightened a bit more and brought them up to his chest.

They both shifted from his arms to a recessed area of his plating on his chest and then put the bright lumpy things in his hands. He looked at them in surprise.

"Presents for you!" Annabelle explained.

"Maybe you should unwrap them for him, Annabelle and Rachel, as his hands are a bit big." Will said. Annabelle and Rachel looked up questioningly at Starscream, who nodded.

The children immediately crawled back onto his hands, and small fingers eagerly tore off bright-coloured paper. Rachel got hers open first, and held up the small piece of pulped plant material by the thin fibre thread through the top. It was vaguely tree shaped.

"It smells nice." Rachel said. "Dad got one in car. Thought you'd like one to smell while flying."

Starscream brought his face close and the little one put it up close to his face. His olfactory sensors detected an artificial scent that was unusual but not at all unpleasant.

"Thank you." he said, as the Annabelle-sparkling showed him a sponge, a cloth, and a bottle of fluid.

'S for your tummy glass. Keeps it shiny." she said.

"Thank you." he said. "If you could put it in my cockpit it should be safe." he said, lowering both children to where they could scramble under the canopy and into the cockpit. Rachel slipped the cord of the freshener over his joystick while Annabelle carefully put the other stuff in his seat.

Starscream swiftly checked the internet while they did so…gifts were supposed to be exchanged but he had nothing to give. His expression must have given away his thoughts, for as if reading his mind, the male Lennox spoke.

"We don't expect anything back, Starscream, the giving of gifts is a human custom, the girls just didn't want to leave you out."

"That's…very kind of them." he said, while looking at suggestions for presents for young femme human sparklings. Then, he found something. Reaching in, he scooped both younglings into a hand and crouched to set them gently on the floor.

"I know you don't expect it but I have something I hope you will like. It is not particularly valuable, it is something I used to use in my scientific instruments and occasionally to refresh my internals."

Withdrawing a small sack from somewhere on his person (although the sack was as tall as Will and half as wide as it was tall) Starscream poured a small quantity of the contents into one palm. He then tipped it onto one of the tarpaulins in front of Rachel. She squealed in delight at a heap of vari-coloured crystals, ranging in size from a quarter of an inch across to faceted stones the size of a man's eyeball. The mound came up to the child's knees and was about a foot wide.

"Pretty! Pretty jewels!" she squealed, as Starscream poured another handful out in front of Annabelle, who squealed just as loudly. Both girls went down on hands and knees, running the crystals through their hands and picking out favourites. They compared some of the brightly glittering stones with each other, swapped a few with each other.

"Well, you know what to give little girls to keep them happy." Will observed. "What are they made of, coloured glass?"

"No, they are all natural, collected from various planets along the way here. Many of them are some variant of carbon, a form which thousands of years of pressure and high heat deep in the planet's crust have morphed into the crystalline structure you see. Others have a high silicon content, some are metallic elements in an ore form which are highly attractive to the optic."

Will stared at Starscream for a moment before saying "Are you telling me that some of those stones are _diamonds_?"

"I believe that is the human term for some of the pretty stones," the Seeker confirmed "so yes. Their hardness makes them useful for many applications in manufacture and in science. My use for them is scientific, they also bend and reflect light in interesting ways, and sometimes the way they are cut will affect that too. As I have plenty of those small ones, I can spare some for the younglings."

"Diamonds." Said Will, looking at the probable small fortune of bright stones his daughter was sorting through. "You said "many of them." What other stones are amongst the non-diamonds?"

"The Earth names include rubies, sapphires, topazes, emeralds, amethysts, garnets, fluorspar, hematite, malachite, and several forms of quartz, including agates."

Will and Sarah looked at each other in astonishment.

"Well, Annabelle is unlikely to need to worry about affording her schooling, housing or wedding." Sarah observed.

"Wanna make a necklace and bracelets." Annabelle said. "You do it for us Star-angel?" she asked, holding up a handful of the stones.

"Annabelle, manners!" Will said. It's good of Starscream to give you those without asking him to do more!" Annabelle immediately looked contrite.

"Sorry." She said. Starscream gave a small laugh.

"Not to worry, Annabelle, I'll be happy to do that, and I'll show you how to thread them, but we can do that tomorrow. That will give you time to sort through which ones you want made into jewelry." Annabelle nodded happily, as Sarah said "I'll go back to the house for some bags to put them in."

Sarah found some of Will's clean thick army socks, and used several of these to stash the gems the girls had been given in them, knotting the top securely. It took five socks for each pile, but it meant they were at least safe. As she tied the last sock and put it aside, Starscream said "I believe you were both interested in a flight?"

"Yes please, yes please Star-angel!" Rachel said, a sentiment fervently echoed by Annabelle. As he bent down to cuddle them to him, they showered him with kisses, stretching their arms as far as they would go, in the nearest thing they could give to a hug considering Starscream's great size. Chuckling, he managed to disengage the clinging children, reached into his cockpit to carefully move the canopy-cleaning set to a safe location, then crept out of the barn to change to his F-22 jet form.

It was then that the problem emerged of how to get the children up and into his cockpit in that form, but Ironhide shrugged and lifted each child in gently. They wedged themselves in next to each other and Starscream managed to fit the seat harness around both of them. They giggled happily as Sarah looked up with a small frown.

"Is it safe for them to do that together? Should they fly separately?" she asked.

"Wanna go together! Please?" Annabelle's voice sounded.

"I promise I'll keep them safe and secure." Starscream said.

"And watch your speed." Will cautioned. "They are only small, high gees could harm them."

"I have calibrated my sensors to monitor their life signs. I promise to not go above their tolerances." Starscream assured him. Then he addressed the two girls.

"Are you two ready?"

"Yes, Star-angel, yes!" they called. Starscream lowered his canopy, as Ironhide motioned the adult Lennoxes to back off.

Starscream's jets activated with a deafening screech which climbed in pitch, then Starscream started along the flat field slowly at first, but then accelerated and took off. Sarah put her face in her hands.

"I do hope they're okay." She fretted.

"Hold on, I'll get Starscream to open an audio link to his cockpit." Ironhide relayed his request.

"Of course." Said Starscream's voice through Ironhide's speakers. He sounded slightly confused by the request, but a moment later the two humans and the Autobot could hear the children's excited squeals above the muffled background roar of Starscream's thrusters. Then Annabelle cried out.

"Faster, please, Star-angel, _faster!"_


	7. Chapter 7

Delta Angel.

Epilogue 2.

A/N: This is slightly cracky and not to be taken too seriously.

As these are Movie seekers, I'm giving them authentic camo designs. See the end of the story for the thanks and acknowledgements.

Thirteen or so years later, Nellis Air Force Base.

"Where is she?" fretted the groom, looking at his watch.

"It's okay, she promised she'd be here." said Will. "It's a woman's prerogative to be late. What worries me, is where the pastor is."

"Well, I've received notice that Annabelle is almost ready and will be here very soon." said the large Arctic-camo-blue Seeker. Will recalled his name was Thundercracker. He was standing at the back of the airfield with Optimus, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Barricade, and another Seeker, this one black and green camo-patterned, whom Will thought was called Skywarp.

The Cybertronians had already been mobbed by the Press, who were out in force, wanting to see the wedding of one of 'The Children Who Ended The War' as one paper melodramatically headlined.

The ceasefire that had started as a two-week temporary event had been lengthened, lengthened again, and then again, and in the end both groups of Cybertronians and the American Government had decided to sit down at the negotiation tables and talk, so they would all know what was going on and could find out where they stood. Ratchet and some human negotiators had sat in, to help if they could, and slowly a truce had been agreed between the three parties, a truce that was finally drawn up into a treaty.

The Decepticons and Autobots had quickly become known to the Press and public, and strangely enough, once the Decepticons willingness to talk peace was revealed, the public's sympathies swung towards the Decepticons as well as the Autobots. Public sympathy to the Autobots was expected, but the public's positive response to the Decepticons came as a surprise. In the end, the rights that had already been drawn up to cover the Autobots had to be extended to cover the Decepticons too, and not only at the Autobots' insistence, but at the public's.

The Cybertronians were generally accorded all the rights of foreigners living on American soil, and for simplicity's sake, rather than draw up a new set of definitions and titles, the two faction leaders were considered heads of two foreign nations. Their Bases served as embassies, and many of the senior Autobots and Decepticons were considered as diplomats and important personages, and accorded the perks that came with such privileges.

For a start, along with the work they promised to do for the humans, it eased the fuel crisis. Some of that work involved working with humans to find a new source of energy, and in that the Cybertronians were way ahead of the humans. To date, the Autobots and Decepticons had helped develop technology that made the fuel burn completely with no waste, which solved fuel efficiency and pollution in one go, helped them develop technology to scoop greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and convert them into useable fuel. They were currently helping the humans to use their waste products in a similar manner: landfill sites were now being seen as potential power-generators.

"Where is that bloody pastor?" fumed Will after a few more minutes had gone by.

"And my future wife!" fretted the groom.

"_She_ is on her way." Thundercracker said in response. "I'm afraid I know nothing about this 'pastor.' Will tried the numbers he had on his mobile phone, but none of the people he rang knew anything.

Another minute went by, and then Thundercracker turned, tipping his head in a listening pose. The rest of the Cybertronians also did likewise, and a moment later Will could hear it too…and he grinned as he realised just how his mercurial daughter was getting to the air field.

The sound of jet engines got louder, and then suddenly an F-22 dropped down, circled and landed. There was something strange about the way it glittered in the sun, and then Will realised that instead of the usual grey colour scheme, this F-22 was…iridescent white?

The canopy popped open and Annabelle was sat inside, grinning. Now Will could also understand why she'd wanted a dress that was anti-crease and not too voluminous in the skirt department.

She popped the harness and stood, sweeping her satiny skirts over the edge of the cockpit. Reaching back in she threw her father a small duffel, then swung her legs over the edge and pushed off, sliding down Starscream's fuselage. Her groom caught her before she hit the ground and kissed her soundly.

Annabelle greeted him, then raised a lace-gloved hand to touch Starscream's side.

"Thank you, Starscream, I would kiss you but I have lipstick on." she told him, then she and Will, pulling the groom with them, backed off.

"Thank you for that consideration, I do _not_ want lipstick prints on me." said Starscream, as he changed back to his normal grey colour scheme and then flipped into robot form.

Annabelle was looking around.

"Okay, where's the pastor?" she asked, concern edging into her voice.

"That's what I was wondering." Will told her.

"If he's not here in five minutes, we will have to find someone else, perhaps one of the officers here could perform the ceremony?" she said. Will nodded – it shouldn't be too hard at an air base to find somebody qualified to perform a marriage, to his knowledge anyone from the rank of Captain up could. Or was that just seagoing vessels?

Five minutes came and went, time Annabelle used to slip off the pumps she'd worn to travel and disembark from her Seeker friend and put on the small strappy heels she had chosen for this occasion. She also put on the diamond and quartz necklace that she had had made for the wedding from the gems Starscream had gifted her with at that Christmas thirteen years ago, and added to since. She had had a girdle fashioned from some similar stones, which had also been unsuitable to wear in the pilot seat of an F-22, and this was put on as well. The bracelet she had wound about the handle of her bouquet was one of the originals gem bracelets Starscream had fashioned for her four-year-old self the Boxing Day following the first Christmas of the ceasefire.

The bracelet was her "something old", the dress her "something new", her mother's old wedding tiara was 'borrowed' and a star- sapphire set in gold on one of her fingers, also from the gems given to her by Starscream, counted as the 'something blue."

"Dad, can you see if you can find someone else?" she asked in exasperation. "It looks like, for whatever reason, the pastor is not going to show."

As Will reached for his phone, Starscream, who had been engaged in discussion with his fellow Cybertronians, stepped forwards.

"Perhaps I may be of assistance?" he suggested. "I believe that when my position of a head of a nation was explained to me, one of the examples of small privileges allotted to me was to perform such joinings?"

Annabelle clapped her hands and bounced up and down excitedly, for a moment reflecting the personality of one of the four-year-old children that had drawn Starscream's interest and affection.

"Oh yes, yes, yes!" she grinned. She grabbed her groom's hand. "Mike, do please say he can?" Her groom smiled.

"If it's legal and makes you happy, Anna, of course he can."

"Can you find the ceremony on the internet?" she asked Starscream.

"Of course I can!" he said haughtily. "Indeed I already have, but there are over one hundred different marriage ceremonies, even paring them down to those most used in this country, there is a bewildering assortment. It would be so much easier if we were using a Cybertronian ceremony, there are only three of those and two of them are for the joining of more than two persons." The Seeker said.

"Oh what a splendid idea!" said Annabelle with a grin. "Why not have a Cybertronian ceremony? Truly include all our guests." She said.

Her voice had obviously carried, for the press began snapping them again, and started calling questions. Will, well used to dealing with the media by now, walked forwards with his arms held up and fingers spread for hush. The crowd quieted.

"Ladies, gentlemen, may I have your attention please? My daughter has, as you have heard, accepted the generous offer by Decepticon Leader Starscream to perform her marriage, and has accepted his offer to have a Cybertronian ceremony. My wife and I have not issues with this, neither does the family of her husband to be." He looked briefly at said people to receive a not of assent before continuing.

"The wedding is already running late, so may I suggest we allow my daughter to get married before we lose further time, if there is time at the end, perhaps the happy couple will permit some questions and pose for photographs."

There was a general murmur of assent as Starscream nodded to Annabelle and Mike to stand before him. Sarah, nearby, pulled a packet of tissues from her pocket and blew her nose, and dabbed at the corners of her eyes delicately. The flower girl - Sam and Mikaela's eight-year-old - scattered petals before them, showing no fear as she emptied the last petals right over Starscream's large feet.

Behind the couple the bridesmaids assembled - Rachel, Maggie, and Mikaela.

"Mechs, femmes and fl – er, humans." Starscream said, correcting his near slip of the tongue before any of the press could work out what he had been about to say. "Your presence here is taken as an acceptance that you are all willing to stand as witnesses to the joining, the 'marriage' of these two people. They stand here before us all because they wish to affirm to others around them that their Sparks – that is, their hearts, resonate on the same frequency – er, that is, beat in time."

Annabelle looked up at Starscream.

"Let's make it easier for all of us and stick to the Cybertronian? I think we can work out the human equivalent. If we need a term translating we'll ask." She smiled and nodded.

"Then I must ask if there is anyone here who objects to this ceremony. If so, step forwards and state it, and be prepared to duel if your challenge is questioned."

Annabelle raised her hand to stifle a giggle. Cybertronian joinings certainly can't have been dull affairs!" Starscream looked over the crowd, some of whom looked amused, others shocked.

"I must point out that that is usually a formality. It is rare that a challenge is raised, rarer still that a duel ensues, and if it does, it is not a duel to the death."

He went back to looking at Annabelle and Mike.

"If at any point in this ceremony, either of you change your mind or feel you have done the wrong thing, you are permitted to say so, and no blame should be apportioned. The reasons for holding back, delaying or ceasing such a ceremony are varied, and often have nothing to do with the obvious feelings you have towards each other. Do you agree?"

"Not going to happen, but yes I understand and agree." Annabelle stated.

"Same here." Mike said "Can't see it happening, but I agree and understand as well."

"Then we shall continue." Starscream said. "Let all who are here be counted as witnesses. Would the Creator, Creators, or Creator figures like to stand forwards?"

"That's you and Mum, Dad!" Annabelle whispered, as Mike waved his own parents over.

"Do you, the Creators of these people, agree that as the two Sparks are synchronised, you will treat the two as one, that is, the partner will be treated as your own Creation?" Starscream asked. Each of the parents gave their assent, and then Starscream instructed the couple to face each other, and then told Annabele's mother to go behind Annabelle, and Mike's father to stand behind his son.

"Push them together, chest to chest." he said.

"So, what happens if the partners are of vastly differing sizes?" asked Will, thinking of the size differences he'd seen between some of the Cybertronians.

"Why, the smallest is pressed against the biggest, then the bigger picks the smaller partner up, of course." Starscream said, sounding genuinely surprised. He turned his attention back to where Sarah and Mike's father had pressed Annabelle and Mike together.

"Put your arms around each other." he instructed and they did, as he indicated the parents to stand back. Starscream regarded them with a little confusion.

"At this point, the couple usually open their chests and let their Sparks touch, but humans don't do that. How would humans finalise a bonding ceremony?" he asked.

Annabelle went crimson with embarassment as she realised what Starscream was saying. She had been an inquisitive child, and had earlier in her life asked where baby Cybertronians came from. Starscream and Ironhide, not having realised that the subject was taboo amongst humans to their own sparklings until they reached a certain age, told her. In detail. Starscream had even shown her holos.

"We do so later, in _private_. We are not doing it here and that is final. No ifs, ands, buts or maybes." she said firmly.

"Is there no way you show your affection in public?" Starscream asked.

"They could kiss." said Will. "That's an acceptable human way of showing it in public."

Will had actually confronted both Starscream and Ironhide when he had found out from Annabelle more than he ever wanted to know about the creation of baby Cybertronians that didn't involve the AllSpark.

"If they're old enough teh ask, they're old enough teh be told, isn't that the same in yehr culture?" Ironhide had asked in puzzlement. "If yeh hide it, it makes them more determined to find the answer one way or th' other, at least that's true of _our_ sparklings."

Starscream's response had been very similar, and Will had had to concede that yes, human sparklings were all too good at finding out what they were not supposed to, thus enough of the truth to keep them satisfied was often the best policy.

"Very well." said Starscream, his voice pulling Will back from his memories. "Then the human custom of 'kissing' may be carried out."

Annabelle pulled Mike forwards and kissed him soundly, and he kissed her back.

"May the bonding be long and filled with joy, may their bond strengthen the two so that together they are stronger than they are apart. May they have the sparklings they desire, if any, and may any such sparklings learn from their Creators' wisdom. The two have become one, their sparks resonate in time." Starscream said.

He turned to the crowd.

"The formal joining is complete. May the blessings of Primus, or whatever deity you may believe in, be upon you" Anabelle hid a grimace - the far right Christians would not like that at ALL, then again, she didn't really care what they thought, this was her marriage, and she had enjoyed it.

Everyone but Will, Sarah, the couple, and the Cybertronians ducked as a loud bang split the air.

"It's okay everybody. Ironhide is giving them what he terms a 'twenty-one gun salute.' There is no need for concern." Optimus managed to be heard above the hubbub.

Once Ironhide had finished, everyone rushed forwards to shower the two with confetti, and then they all posed for photos-first the bride and groom with their entourage and families, then the Cybertronians were brought in for the Press to get their photos. Quarter of an hour was given over for questions, and then it was time for everybody to head for the nearby Sunset Park for the reception, where beverages for Cybertronian and human alike would be available, and food for the humans would be provided.

More Cybertronians would be there, and of course the Press would follow them, but Annabelle had a surprise for her new husband after a quick whisper in Starscream's audio. She took Mike by the arm and pointed over at where Thundercracker was just transforming into his jet form.

"Your transport awaits you, my darling." she said, kissing him on the cheek. She watched as a mixture of excitement and surprise spread over his face as he realised what she meant.

"We're going - in _him_?" he asked, delighted.

"Umm, not exactly, those jets only have room for one. you're going in him, but Starscream will fly next to him with _me_ in." She explained.

"Okay." he said, and went over to be boosted up by Will as Annabelle once again took off her jewellery and changed her footwear for something more appropriate.

Ironhide came over to assist Annabelle, as he had all those years ago, lifting her gently into the cockpit. She strapped herself in as Skywarp approached Rachel, who was smoothing out the creases in her bridesmaid's dress.

"You are Rachel?" he asked.

"Yes." the pretty brunette said, tipping her head back and not at all fazed at talking to something six times her height and massing several hundred times her own weight. She was used to it by now. He took two steps back and transformed. "I have room for one inside. Need a lift?" he asked. Rachel laughed delightedly.

"Hey Ironhide, I could use a hand here!" she called, and the black mech came hurrying over.

He lifted her in, and the three Seekers all fired their thrusters and roared off into the sky, Skywarp slightly ahead, Starscream and Thundercracker flying almost wingtip-to-wingtip. Will smiled as he watched them recede.

"Come on, Ironhide." he said to his big friend. "Let's get on our way there. They'll get fed up of waiting if we leave it too long."

Ironhide folded up into his alt, and Will got in, grinning.

A/N(2) much thanks and virtual cookies must go to the members of the International Nerd Herd for letting me discuss this and bounce ideas of them. Much kudos to Shadowsinger (KDZeal) for helping me out when I was stuck and suggesting some lovely ideas. And for making me laugh when I needed it…J


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